Michael Che On Joy Reid & Lester Holt’s Departures: “Well, NBC, Only One More To Go”
Saturday Night Live hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che were locked in this week when tackling headlines, addressing disasters from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with president Donald Trump to MSNBC’s cancellation of Joy Reid’s show.
Jost kicked off the show by touching on the Oval Office confrontation, spoofed by the late-night show’s Cold Open earlier in the night. “Now thanks to that meeting, you actually can gamble on World War III on FanDuel,” he quipped, referring to Trump’s own words and referencing the online gambling company, the ads of which have proliferated online and on television.
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He continued, saying Zelensky’s appearance on Fox News — where the leader said he thinks he can salvage the diplomatic relationship with Trump — “is like Justin Baldoni saying ‘I’d love to work with Blake again!'”
In a bit of a weak, late joke, Jost also added, “The Oscar campaign for Best Picture nominee Emilia Pérez was badly damaged after problematic old tweets about George Floyd surfaced from transgender star Karla Sofía Gascón, and I think we can all agree: What?“
But, arguably the night’s loudest claps went to Che, who lobbed a precise jab at home network NBC, “This week MSNBC fired its only non-white primetime host and Lester Holt announced he is stepping down as the anchor of NBC Nightly News. Well, NBC, only one more to go,” flashing a picture of himself onscreen.
Other standouts: “Two people at a movie theater in Washington state watching Captain America: Brave New World were surprised when the theater ceiling collapsed on them. Surprised, but grateful,” Jost said.
He also joked, “CBS this week premiered the first daytime Black soap opera called Beyond the Gates, and also a crossover white soap opera called ‘How’d those people get beyond the gates?'” to which Che gave his stamp of approval as “pretty good.”
The night’s segments were also strong, featuring Marcello Hernandez as “the movie guy,” a personality who, it quickly becomes apparent, has actually no affinity for film and has not seen any of the year’s Best Picture nominees. Instead, the character goes on impassioned tirades about SpongeBob, leading Hernandez to break character a number of times to the betterment of the bit, which is perhaps aimed at recent blind items by Academy Awards voters who have admitted to neglecting certain movies on negligible criteria.
Featuring puns so stupid they’re hilarious, Hernandez jokes that Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is “a complete unknown” to him as he hasn’t seen it. Meanwhile, I’m Still Here earns the following summation: “This movie is about a guy and everybody is saying, ‘Did he leave?!’ No, he had not left quite yet. He’s still here,” he said, unable to remain in character.
Appearing later was Jane Wickline and her trusty keyboard with more sound (ahem) advice for Gen Z entering a murky dating scene. With her ditty “I Choose You” — delivered in signature stream of consciousness as opposed to a rhythm with a steady beat and melody — what is presented as a swoon-worthy song is soon revealed to be a stand-in for an exploration of the moral dilemma of the trolley problem.
Among the lyrics: “Either way, I’d be so wracked with guilt I would kill myself within a year, which is kind of like dying for you.” Not exactly a Bruno Mars classic, though the absurdist one track mind approach (oops) was favorably reminiscent of Donald Glover’s beloved “Barbie Instagram” sketch of years’ past.
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